Settling your debt with your creditors is a viable option when it comes to getting out of debt. So how do actually settle your debt you may be wondering? There is a skill when negotiating and you should have an outcome in mind before you start negotiating with creditors. First you need to know how much money you have to work with and you need to know what to say and what not to say.
Most creditors are willing to settle and actually have a department assigned just for that purpose. The best way of gaining a good settlement offer is by having a compelling reason such as a medical condition, change in income or something other than over spending. Another thing that can have an impact on the outcome of the settlement is if you had cash advances on your account that you are negotiating. This could have a negative impact because most creditors are not willing to settle low on cash advanced balances or what’s commonly referred to discounted cash.
If your balance is mainly purchases that you have made the better your chances are to get the debt down to let’s say 20 cents on the dollar. Example, if you had a balance of $2,000 you could expect to settle for $400. You may want make an offer through the mail although this is not as effective and you lose the negotiation power of direct communications.
There are programs that can teach you how to negotiate, and it is worth considering because most professional negotiators get a third of what they save you. For instance let’s say you hired a professional negotiator and the balance of your debt was $35,000 and they were able to negotiate the debt down to $7,000 that would be a savings of $28,000. Their fee would be based on a percentage of the $28,000 they saved you which their fee would be $8,680. Now the total payback amount would be $7,000 debt + $8,680 fee= $15,680. Now your actual savings went from 20% to 45%. Now imagine if you were able to do the same thing with proper coaching. Let’s say the program cost $200 now you’re looking at an additional savings of $8,480.
You do have to consider the time that this will take you, however the reward of the education and the lessons learned could be priceless. If you feel that you are not capable of negotiating your debts on your own then you may want to hire a professional but at least negotiate their fee up-front down to a flat 10% of the total debt. Also make sure you never pay upfront fees and you do your proper due diligence on the company and make sure they’re reputable. A good start is to check them out with the Better Business Bureau.